We talk to Linda Cardellini, Raymond Cruz & more for The Curse of La Llorona

July 22nd 2018, 2:44pm

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

After seeing the first footage for THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA at Warner Bros. annual "ScareDiego" event at Comic Con, I was convinced that the James Wan-produced horror film was something more than your standard, run-of-the-mill scare pic. While I'd never say I'm a "horror guy" per se, I really appreciate and admire the genre, especially when it can tap into the aspects of humanity that make us believe in and be frightened of things we encounter outside the ordinary. Based on the Latino folklore of La Llorona, which is from the story of a woman (La Llorona) who catches her husband cheating on her and in a fit of rage drowns her two kids and kills herself, only to be cursed to continue seeking out children to drown for the rest of her existence. While that may seem like a silly old wives tale, it is, as I have learned, a very real thing that many in the Hispanic community deeply believe in, which is more than enough to freak me out when they talk about it.

I talked to the legendary character actor Raymond Cruz, who you've seen in everything from CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER to TRAINING DAY to BLOOD IN, BLOOD OUT to Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul (Tuco!) and now as a priest that aides Linda Cardellini's social worker character in protecting her kids from La Llorona, who has her eyes set on making them part of her cycle of death. Cardellini jumped into the interview as well and we got a chance to ask her about her involvement (and also asked if we'll see Mrs. Hawkeye again potentially in AVENGERS 4) in the film. Cruz also recounts a story from the set that juuuuust might make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Just sayin'.

Next up, we talked to director Michael Chaves, who talks about bringing this age-old folklore to the big-screen for the first time and Patricia Velasquez, who plays a woman that's deeply felt the effects of La Llorona in the film. Velasquez also shares her own beliefs in La Llorona and we discuss what it's like bringing this character to life, as well as what it means to contribute to James Wans' ever-growing horror series of interconnected horror films. Check it out below, as well as my reactions to what we saw at ScareDiego!

THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA haunts theaters on April 4th, 2019.